Keep Turning Left

I am a humble sort of bloke so it may come as a surprise to regular readers to learn that I hold the chair of Boat Psychiatry from the Institute of Marine Psychology, Oxford.

I have decided to break cover to make you aware of a disease that is spreading through our community – it is known among my fellow sailors as “too many boats disease” but us professionals call it Polynavicula Morbus or PNM for short.

outwardly sufferers can seem well adjusted and happy

At a recent gathering of boat psychologists and yacht psychiatrists held at the Institute we came up with a simple self diagnostic tool to help sailors understand if they might have a problem. Simply total up the hull length of boats you own, or have a part share in. Canoes, windsurfers and paddle boards count, multihulls and tris you count each hull. Surfboards are obviously excluded.

We have come up with some preliminary categories.

less than 20 hull feet dormant or in remission.

20 to 50 infected but benign

50 to 100 advanced

100 to 150 serious

150 to 250 chronic

250 and above severe PNM

too much boat stuff is a classic symptom

Of course this is a very crude rule of thumb and the concept of counting each hull on a cat or a tri does cause some controversy. But if you know any cat or tri sailors then you will understand that their brains are wired slightly differently from those of “normal ” sailors.

It has also been pointed out that an oligarch with one 260 foot superyacht is clearly in need of a permanent crew and a few bodyguards rather than a “one on one” with a qualified boat therapist such as myself.

the provenance of boat paraphenalia is always in doubt

Some people have suggested that PNM is not really a disease but I must put in a call for compassion. Take one of my clients, I shall call him Lance but his real name is Cedric. He has sixteen boats that add up to a total of 260 feet.

Outwardly Cedric appears to be as well adjusted as any normal sailor such as you or I, but his dark secret is that he actually hardly sails at all. On a good day with warm sun and a fresh breeze he stands on his back stoop and drinks three coffees while deciding which boat to sail. The by the time he has finished duck shoving boats around his jig-saw puzzle of a yard the morning has all but gone.

Cedric has to park his truck on the street in front of his property because there is no room for vehicles in his garage or on his drive. His neighbours are not happy with him. His wife is not happy with him. She used to be a keen gardener and now faces a sea of white plastic when she steps out into her back yard. All she has is the window boxes.

PNM sufferers will often have several identical boats but can dream up reasons for owning each one

Once the chosen boat has been hitched up, the lighting board has been found, the bearings greased poor Lance then has to try to find the right sails, rudder and rigging to go with the boat.

By four in the afternoon Lance is ready to go sailing but he is so exhausted that the moment has passed and the pleasant morning breeze has gone.

I am sad to tell you that last year Cedric only went sailing twice – and that was in a friend’s cat boat which suffers from such terrible weather helm that it takes two strong men just to keep it on the most approximate of courses.

We have two reported near mortalities that can be attributed to PNM. At the age of 32 Charlie from Illinois started to accumulate Lasers – at least one of each type. By the time he was forty he had no less than 13 of them. He built a rack in the workshop to store them.

One day while working on his third PD racer the whole rack came away from the wall…. terrible, terrible. Nobby from the Oklahoma pan handle had boats on both seaboards and was found at the wheel of his truck unable to decide whether to head East or West. To all intents and pruposes the man is now a vegetable and has taken up golf.

To offer us a tool for greater refinement in the diagnosis of PNM, Yacht Psychologists such as myself, multiply total boat length by the number of hulls – so Lance with his 16 hulls adding up to 260 feet has a true PNM of 4,160.

One of the main problems with PNM sufferers is getting them to acknowledge that they have a problem at all. Some men say that they need all the boats so that they have just the right vessel for every situation. Some say that they have large families – but on further questioning they usually sail alone.

In the past, when boats were made of wood, the PNM afflicted would watch their vessels slowly rot away and return to the ecosystem. Now that plastic boats are immortal some PNM sufferers are so deluded that they regard their fleet as an investment rather than a burden that stops them from actually sailing.

If you think you, or a friend, is afflicted here are a few extra questions to consider:

Do you monitor ebay for bargains? Do you ever sell boats? Do you feel that boats sometimes need to be rescued? Do you lie to your partner about how many you have and how much you spend on them? How many of your boats can you see from Google Earth or Google Street View?

Some people see it as a simple psychosis but recent studies suggest that Polynavicular Morbus has many of the characteristics of a true disease in that is can spread from man to man. Potent vectors include long conversations in sunny cockpits, damp deck shoes, soup, dorritoes and sometimes modest amounts of alcohol.

Women for some reason are generally immune to PNM but there are many who suffer from being married to the afflicted.

Please feel free to email me with your problems and case histories.

Yours Dr Dyl 45 feet – three hulls

Cedric is in remission and has found a use for some of his surplus boats

I realised several months ago that I had this disease. Fortunately I’ve managed by shear will power to reduce it down to only one. But I still cannot be online for more than a few days without trawling the usual sailboat “trap” houses and fear a relapse. Just say no!

Well i went for many years with only one boat at a time. Fireball, flying 15, Silhouette. Then for about 15 years i owned a 48ft Scottish fishing boat and rebuilt and launched her. When i finally got rid of her i think i unconsciously thought i needed to replace the full 48ft in bits so i bought a Wildfire dinghy, then a rowing boat, then my son started in Oppies so i had to have two of those, one wooden and one plastic. Then i wanted to sail whilst my son was out so bought an old Finn. I then happened across a Hurley Alacrity on eBay…nobody bid on it so i contacted the seller and got it for a song…another project, no trailer so had to arrange that too. Wife is screaming i just wish he would buy a boat that is ready to go…then i liked the idea of a kayak, bid on one on eBay, won it and when i picked it up there was another one laying there so thought, well i need two, so negotiated to buy that As well. Then got into canoes and bid and won another vessel…then i decided to keep my Wildfire at Birdham…the dinghy park had a few abandoned dinghies and i bought a plastic GP14 for £100, bargain until you factor in no trolley or trailer…back to eBay. ThenFinn has gone but i have all the others in various states of readiness. Oppies need to go as son stopped sailing. Alacrity refurb is in progress, Wildfire is ok and ready to sail but rarely goes out. Nor do the kayaks or canoes and rowing boat is a future project…GP is in need of a little TLC.

Total boat length 63ft but in my defense we have them all on the water at the same time last summer. My big worry is that 17yr old son is building a hybrid duck punt – is he infected too? I think Dr Dyl’s brother may have exacerbated the problem as well by publishing boat porn on the internet.

Photos and videos will be forthcoming but he’s only just starting – it’s his A level project so he has to “do something unique” which means putting a load of extras on that will then be stripped out once he’s got his grade. It will have a small centre board – (I know, don’t say anything) and is using a mirror rig with a cut down wayfarer sail so either great recycling or, as you say, a real mess but don’t tell him I said that………..Damn, he looks at this site too! we’ll be intouch – deadline is May.

I have a 22 foot Pandora, a 20 foot flying fifteen, a 12 foot miracle, an 11 foot topper, 2 three man canoes (I guess about 12 feet each) and 2 tenders one rigid and one inflatable. The shed contains rigs/ sails fora mirror and a laser! I do however regularly sail the Pandora and the flying fifteen.

Dr Dyl says… well J I see no reason to go cold turkey… but time for a bit of a clear out. Some time ago I had six boats and I had not realised that my children had left me. It seems that topper and one canoe could go. If boats have not floated for a year then they should be at the front of the queue for the chop

It’s not a disease if you find the right balance. I have a 30 footer, 20 footer and 11 footer, all home built and all balanced luggers. Although the 30 footer is about to come out of the water and go into storage.Gary

I have a cunning plan. The multi national manufacturing companies can carbon trade so why can’t we LOA trade? Dr Dyl needs to set a safe limit of total LOA and then those of us with too much can sell to those under the threshold. Our currency could be useful bits of rubbish – sorry chandlery and I suggest “loating” as the verb for this process (sounds like boating so lessens the pain) Of course Dr Dyl may set a silly limit like 43ft in which case we are all stuffed and I suggest we track him down, lock him up, ignore the problem and go sailing in the one boat that works. Stand firm brothers (and 1 sister) it’s our money, we earned it and can spend it on what ever we like.

Oh deary me! We do have a problem here. Third phase PNM here Richard. first of all you are concerned with how to get more boats easily, secret language to hide the illegal transactions, then accusing us professionals as being silly. Dissing your superiors is a classic sign of advanced PNM. Then contesting the scientifically established boundaries and finally deciding that you are going to go ahead willy nilly. I fear for your future.

Too bad… I have started an SOF canoe in the dining room and am considering a hybrid DP/Dory/Enlarged Teal for this coming spring. everything that is useable requires more gymnastics than I wish to put in right now. The bones don’t seem to want to play anymore.

In response to earlier reply by Richard Bullock …. Can’t find the mentioned boat porn, but did get in trouble with the wife when she came in and saw some of the results that had inadvertently come up on the screen. Help!!!!!

OK, let’s do the math. Cold-molded sloop 26 feet. Strip-built freight canoe 18 feet. Aluminum runabout 16 feet. Kayaks – do kayaks count? Damn, they do. You can’t really have TOO many kayaks, can you? OK, so there’s the two stitch and glue Cheseapeak LT-16’s. One is my son’s though, if he would ever pick it up – do I have to count that one? 32 feet if I have to count them both. Then the Prijon Seayak would be another 16. Oh dear, the other canoe canoe, I forgot the canoe – I never use the fibreglass canoe since I got the wooden freighter. Suppose I have to count that too then. Well that’s it, and it adds up to, hmmm – 124. Gosh that can’t be right, this is serious, let’s do it again. Crap, 124. Good thing we don’t have to count the Zodiac. Nobody counts Zodiacs do they? I mean it mostly lives rolled up in the quarterberths of the keelboat. Maybe it gets used three or four times a year. That would only be 4/364 X 9.6 feet. That”s, umm, 0.105 feet. Usage counts, right? Right? It’s not that serious, is it? I spent less that ten hours this week looking at ads on Yachtworld. Honest, I am getting better…..

sorry zodiacs count…. liability, space, resources. I am afraid 105 is pretty dangerous. You need to book a therapy session. For starters – get all you boats bout in one place…. ha! hard to do isn’t it. Then you need to sit in each one and make a subjective assessment as to its cost per hour – you are allowed to count thinking about it hours as half on sailing hours. Good luck…. get well soon.

The Snipe, I forgot the Snipe! It’s just a restoration project, doesn’t even have deck yet. I don’t have to count that one, do I? Do wooden boats count for more or less? They certainly don’t take any more of your time. Honest…..

Have I some sort of compounded affliction? Two boats, 21ft gaff cutter and an 8ft bloater. One Windsurfer One Design and sundry waveboard relics of and rigs (pre children) making I think 42 ft. The compounding factor here is the other half, she has collected 16 equine feet and 12 goat feet. Which is the greater problem? Can I claim an offset against my PNM because our specialist equine vet now crews for me? ( Rule number one on the yacht: no one talks about horses…)

the committee is split on this very important issue. Some see it as a sign of liberation from PNM – others see is as a signal that a higher power is taking control of the boat surplus problem. We are united that to turn a wooden boat into a planter is a bad thing – to turn a plastic boat into one means that the boat might one day live again. It is best to let the boats go to a good home where they will be loved and cherished rather thasn condemn them to a life of humiliation with daisies and daffodils

What a relief! I have known for some time that I have a problem but to get an actual diagnosis . I am Simon and I am a Chronic PNM sufferer . I need to build a spreadsheet to get an accurate calculation but roughly I am 220 on 16 hulls.

Do I look on eBay? Most daysDo I sell? NoDo I rescue? YesDo I lie to the mrs? YesCan I see my boats on google earth? Yes

When I’m away on business i have to go and find a river or a bit cf coast, boatyard etc Help!

I knew something was amiss, but now I have a name for it. Whew! I can tell you what a relief that is. I had taken to hiding boat expenditures by inventing the “Boat Unit” where 1 BU = $1,000 and decimal fractions thereof. That way I thought sounded better to my long suffering wife when I could say “It was only 1/2 a boat unit and a real bargain.” But, regrettably, she’s long since on to that ruse, but at least I can now claim shelter behind an identifiable mental condition and even better, I have fellow sufferers to at least commiserate with, since none of us really want to get cured.

We at the insitute really appreciate your invention of the concept of a BU and we will be using this in future research papers. PNM should never used as an excuse – it is a serious condition. Sufferers do not have control over themselves. A proper course of therapy could run into scores of boat units so living with the condition can often be the best answer – but to do this requires sympathy and understanding from our significant others

but captains have more crew than ships …. and an admiral has a large fleet. I think you may just be head of maintenance or at best the berthing master. I think you might need help from the one of our boat therapists at the PNM Institute.

I am over 100 feet, with 3 in restoration. Last year I actually sold one, but used the money to get 2 more to restore. Several years ago I gave one away as a wedding present (unrestored). A mean trick as he is now “collecting”.

That’s 163 feet….but when I figure the shares on the race boat, and then figure in that there are three in the family… then it’s really only 48 feet that is directly attributable to me.There, how’s that for rationalization!

My name is Wayne and I’m a recovering addict. At one time, I had a 16′ daysailor, a 21′ weekender, an 8′ inflatable dinghy and a 37′ cruising sailboat. With the love and support of my wife, I managed to infect… ummm, sell the daysailor, the weekender and the dinghy to other sailors.

But earlier this year, I had a regression and bought an 8′ rigid dinghy to tow behind the cruiser. And I think my wife has been infected as she was the one to instigate the dinghy purchase.

Is there no hope for us? Are we doomed to spend our retirement funds on more boats?

Having read this part of the blog I realise I’m right on the edge! I’m already telling the better half porkies and I haven’t even spent any money yet! That should change on Tuesday when I’m off to look at a WWP 15 that needs TLC, I’m following a rowing skiff on Ebay and I’m thinking about doing a boat building course at the IBTC in Lowestoft as a retirement project. I clearly need help!!! or a hidden bank account LOL

The deed is done – £200 and I have a shell that needs work but has spars, sails and rigging and a trailer that needs Hammerite. The challenge now is to see how little I can spend to put her (safely) in the water looking half decent. If I can limit that to another £200 I’d call that a major result!!!

Blog now active and first picture of a forlorn little Potter sitting in the rain on my drive – http://wwpproject.blogspot.co.uk/. Once she’s in the water (hopefully this summer – famous last words) I’m already planning a rowing skiff just to qualify as a member of the PNM club. Oh just remembered, I do have a part share in a Puffin dinghy (built it when I was a kid) so I’ll have to get my slide rule out to calculate the rating. Wonder if anyone’s into 4 figures – that has to be a target for someone?

Might consider it when she’s a bit tidier inside as you say – for a laff. It’s a bit of a mess at the moment and almost needs more work than the outside. I discovered that water in the cockpit also means water inside – eventually found the cockpit drain plug in a box of spare bits! Now have a cockpit with water in it but that’s better – I’ll cover her up later today.

She actually sits very comfortably on the old carpet I laid under her. Stable as she has a virtually flat bottom aft, but will chock her up to make her level on the drive – on a slope at the moment.

I’ve checked the blogs ability to receive comments and it all seems to work fine. I’ve put a test comment on the latest post from a different email account and it published OK.

I’ve had a chance to strip out the inside this morning and revealed the true scale of the tasks ahead. The cosmetics are the least of the problems – all the woodwork will have to be remade including the bits that hold some of her together! No matter, it’s all good experience for my retirement career building boats!

Hope you’re enjoying the change in the weather in a suitably aquatic manner.

My last household move had me arriving at the new home just as the moving company pulled up. The driver noted the two 18 ft sea kayaks on my truck rack, and on the trailer the 17 ft Old Town canoe, the 18ft Indian Girl canoe, the 15 ft Blackhawk canoe, the 14ft Adirondack Guideboat, and enough white cedar to begin a 14ft Chesapeake Bay Sharpie…. (The bed of the truck looked like a travelling marine antique exhibit…)He had the nerve to remark that I had too many boats.I asked if he played golf. He admitted that he did.“How many clubs do you own?” I asked. He shook his head and walked away….

At 101 ft I’m in the serious category – but there should be a sub index relating to the number of linear feet of varnished spars which puts me well into the chronic even if thee of the 9 are inflatables.

the idea of a spar modifier is an ineresting contextual twist. I shall convene a meeting of the society to discuss you suggestion. Could you be available in barbados in November to give us a paper on the subject? Usual fee now that we have a research grant from the labour party.

Finally I feel validated with my affliction. As per the rules I’m chronic, at 148.5 at the moment, but another 15 foot skiff is framed up right now so I guess rules is rules and now I’m over the top. Currently I nurture the following: 40′ wooden trawler (in restoration), 25′ custom foam core sloop, 23′ motor skiff, 20′ wooden sharpie, 14.5′ kayak, 14′ Phantom (like a Sunfish), and 12′ flat bottom cypress sided rowboat. I may soon be partnering with a 23′ sloop too. I am not in denial though and relish each end every moment.

Oh my gosh! I just found this site..and you are all mad! But then..I rather suspect I am as well…(2) Flying Juniors, a Force 5, Hobi 16 and a Ensenada 20…2×13 + 13 more, plus 16 and an additional 21..does total boat length or waterline length count?…65 feet…gasp!Perhaps I shouldnt take the $500 swing keel Ive just been offered…its an additional 25 feet…80 feet…….gasp! And..and…I live in the desert!!!…OMG..Im doomed!!

Correction..thats 90 feet…assuming that the Hobi is only counted once..it does have 2 hulls…if not..that puts me at 106….snivel…the end is near! Or is that the Stern is Near!! Or the finish line is near…or..babble gabble…quiver….twitch…..

No way do I have a problem. Sure I like a good boat as much as the next man, it’s part of our culture. Go out, have a good boat. But there’s only the little 22 foot club racer so what’s wrong with that? Sure, it has a tender – how would we get to the mooring without one? What? OK that is true, there are two tenders, but look the little walker bay is a beautiful rowing boat and the outboard’s too big for it so we need the inflatable, just in case. It’s rolled up in the locker to stop the rubber perishing. No the laser and the 420 are NOT abandoned and they are NOT wrecks. The foils and sails are in perfect condition and I know exactly where they are. No way am I a boataholic, I do not accept your intervention. PNM 65 and anyway we need an inflatable kayak for the kids there are some fantastic bargains on ebay

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! This page is an eye-opener. I must face the fact that, I too, seem to have a problem: a 26′ Macgregor, 16′ Tanzer, 16 Widerness Systems kayak, 16′ Oday Daysailer, 14′ Sailfish, 12′ Port-a-boat. The sum of this footage is a surprising 84 feet!

I seem to be squarely in the advanced category!

However, I wonder if I can deduct 43 feet because: my ex-wife stole my Tanzer 16′ (less 16′), my Macgregor 26 is really a hybrid sailboat/motorboat and was damaged in Hurricane Sandy (less 13′), and I left my 14′ Sailfish behind the shed when I sold my house. Maybe this puts me back down to 41 feet, which is in the “20 to 50 infected but benign” category.

I have spoken to the committee about your case – at best you are in remission, But you obviously have the syndrome and need to keep careful control of your proclivities.I suggest that next year you commit toengage in a series of single boat therapy sessions – choose one boat and remain faithful to her. Never use the phrase “it is too hot to sail”….never cut the grass rather than sail….sail first honeydos later

My disease started with a single kayak, which I used to paddle down the Wensum while my now wife organised our wedding with her Mum. Wife came with a double kayak. Kids came along so I bought a couple of cast off kayaks from the the girl guides. Started sailing, bought an old Halcyon 23 which came with a leaky tender, happy days. Leaky tender replaced but not got rid off with an Ebay Walker Bay. Son got into dingy sailing so bought a cast off Pico from local sailing club. It gets worse; after a 3 year attempted refit of the Halcyon (after someone mercilessly rammed it and scarpered) I found a down at heel example of my dream boat (A Hunter Horizon 273) at a ridiculous price, what could I do? So at the height of my problems I had amassed:

4 Kayaks 40ft2 Tenders 16ftA Pico 10ftHalcyon 23ftHunter 27ft

116ft in total and a true PNM of 1,094.

It is such a relief to know that it is not me, but a real disease so thank you.

You will all be glad to know that with the support of loved ones (especially those who must be obeyed) there is a happy end to this sorry tail. The answer our problems is to find another PNM sufferer at the early stages of their affliction. I gave away all of my Kayak to a colleague at work for free (good for the soul). I sold my Pico on ebay. I think that the boat yard has disposed of my old tender due to lack of interest.

So I am now down to 58ft with a true PNM of 174.

Can I interest any one in a Halycon 23 project, Fully repaired and professionally painted, just needs a PNM sufferer to put all the bits back and do some wood work. Bargain…..!!

I am currently quite modest with a 24ft sail boat, 12ft sailing dinghy, 8ft inflatable tender. Good thing i got rid of the other 10ft dinghy and 3 windsurfers last year (had the windsurfers for 7 years and never used them!). I am glad the enlightened panel decided that surfboards don’t count as everybody knows you need a descent quiver for different types of waves (10ft long board, 7ft fun board, 6ft short board). Of course it doesn’t count that i haven’t been surfing for two years, i will continue when i get a car again (which i sold so i cold afford the 24ft sail boat…). I do find that i seem to buy boats while the wife is away, and get any new bits delivered to the marina (more convenient as i don’t have a car any more to take things there myself). I don’t lie about spending, she just doesn’t ask.

given the seriousness of the PNV virus I am not sure that you should be touting your most wonderful plans to a group of people who have already shown themselves extremely prone to the disease – this is a bit like Budweiser taking adverts in the AA monthly…

Ohhh dear, when counting boats I totally forgot a 16 foot trailer sailor outside my lounge room windowThats3 x trailer sailers for 56 feet4 x Dinghies for 45 feetPlus I have rigging for boats I dont even ownI have a very supportive partner who humours me and as it seems my not so strange addiction

Am I glad in the Netherlands the length of our follies is measured in metres. That way the numbers are a lot less frightening. My Icefloe sea kayak measures 5.2 m LOA, our Albin Vega is 8.23 m LOA, the 15 ft Coleman canoe is really just 4.8 metres, the whole lot totals just 18.23 metres. A modest figure.That said, we do suffer from driving in kilometres, which results in higher figures, like 50 in built up areas where you would be doing 30, ideally. Some drivers over here seem to be under the impression that our speed limits are in miles instead of kilometres; they will be doing 80 km/hr.where 50 is the legal limit.Any resulting speeding fines will have to be settled in euros, not pounds. This information may be utterly useless but was supplied in good faith.

That puts me at 57 and 228. The study has to be flawed, since that seems a perfectly reasonable number of boats. I still want to add a 17′ sea kayak to my collection. They each get used at least once a season – maybe.

Can this possibly afflict Canadians given our frigid winter climate that restricts serious sailing to 4 months or so per year. My feeling was, the more available boats (2 cruising sailboats, 1 sailing dinghy, 3 roll-up inflatable dinghies of various lengths, an aluminum fishing boat and a 4 passenger paddle boat totalling ~118′ in combined LOA and 9 hulls in my case) the easier to take best advantage of the short season. In fact, the underlying theory is almost the converse of PNM quantifiaction: the greater the sum of multiplicands of hull numbers and LOAs, the greater the opportunity for release of unhealthy tension by minimizing downtime attributable to any single boat in the fleet. The serial and essentially continuous activity associated with hopping from boat to boat leaves little, if any opportunity, for infection by such antigens as PNM.

PS: my wife seems to be seriously afflicted by some type of complementary ailment: SBA or Strangulating Bank Accountitis, characterized by an an ever-enlarging lack of funds available for the pursuit of healthy lake-, ocean-, or river-based nautical or marine activities.

I should have added that in the winter months when the lakes and rivers of northern Ontario are frozen over some of us have ice boats which reach unheard of speeds for normal “liquid” water-bound craft. I assume that might count but does the use of snow machine suits and crash helmets offset the PNM-inducing effects of personal flotation devices? And does an addiction to watching KTL clips for up to 4-5 hours per winter evening whilst warming frozen fingers and toes in front of the fireplace further suggest PNM symptoms?

How could I ever challenge someone who appears to be so severely afflicted himself? In my case, I first felt the bite of the bug serving as ballast for a friend who had rigged his canoe with a makeshift rudder, bilateral dagger boards clamped to the gunwales, and a mast and sail lashed to the forward cross-member. What was a young man to do when asked to lay flat on the core of the canoe so it wouldn’t capsize with each gust of the prairie wind? Shades of sailing a duck punt through a flooded cow pasture?

Your YouTube post today, besides being very poetic, was fascinating in the variety of boats shown. I was especially intrigued by the small dinghies on foils. Amazing speed. Dangerous lack of control? I think I’ll stay with the <7 kts my Seaward can muster. Signing off for now. Enjoy your new Chichester experience.

I am recovering at last! I was up to an 82′ PNM infection, but I have now noticed after a painful amputation that I am now down to only 62′. Perhaps with further surgery I might get the whole thing under control. After all I am only really interested in 26′ of SNM (Singular NM).

But then, in order to have the 26′, one must have at least another 8′ to service the 26’… And then again, one must have an inflatable 8′ stowed away in case of a sudden urge to go for an ashore libation.

it seems to me that you are doing very well to bring things under control. The worst case I came across was 267 feet over 15 hulls – a sad case indeed. The amazing thing is the victim was still claiming that it was not a problem.

I think that with the ongoing donations to the Institute of Boat Psychology PNM dept we can help you through – the donations scheme offers the afflicted a way they can express their remorse

Hilarious post, thanks for that! You didn’t mention if inflatable tenders actually count towards my Poly Navicular Morbus count or not? I’m assuming that as I have a number of inflatables including a 3D tender dinghy which rolls up into a backpack that these aren’t counted (hull feet = zero when rolled up!) Please let me know, I’m getting a bit nervous that I may be moving into the ‘serious’ category…

An impulse buy, a bargain buy and I might add a ‘feel sorry for the poor little neglected burger buy’.

If I didn’t have advanced PNB I would have or should move it on…………… but it looks like a mini proper yacht!

It has potential, it can be reborn as the pheonix from the flames of a deserted mooring on an empty river bank.“I AM THE MAN TO DO IT!”……

The Tepco 15, we shall call her ‘Pastime’ for that is her real name at the moment (Memsab wants to rename her ‘Scarlet Sails’ but I dont like changing the names of boats) is very practical for our needs, to be mobile and try safe waters anywhere without grounding or laying over when the sea goes on its holiday to the other side. It has decent cuddy you can sleep in and a place to prepare/cook and wash if we did get caught on a mudbank. With a boom tent for bad weather she’s a nice option. Plus she’s an easy launch and recover.‘Pastime’ is functional and charming only because of her gunter rig, but basically she looks like a fisher boat!

As a guy with PNB you have to understand that I’m trying to justify having two similar but quite different boats.

Now did I tell you about ‘Rosie’ and ‘Scorpio’?

Actually I quite like your Hunter Minstrel, now if I sell the M/C and the caravan and downgrade the car I might be able to ……………….. Hhhmmmmmm I’ll give that some thought!

53 feet over 10 boats but since i built the duck punt i dont really bother with the others, i made an effort to sell the cherub on ebay highly overpriced did it sell? nope. i use the mirror offshore, the flying fifteen sits in the front garden looking fab (talk about boat porn that keel oh that keel) do you think the wife might let me bring the keel into the house just to look at like an ornament. dave

I have a question. I’m currently safe (ish) with a measured PNM of 26 over two hulls for a true PNM of 52. But prior to this I had a 36 foot gaff cutter that had a 16 foot dinghy in two pieces. It sailed either as a 16 foot schooner with the two halves bolted together or as two 8 foot sailing prams. My PNM was either 52 over 2 hulls for a true PNM of 104 or 52 over 3 hull for a true PNM of 156.

Which is the correct value?

All two/three boats were found new homes when I moved home from Malta and I now have just a 16′ 6″ Fairey Falcon and a 9′ 6″ foot Nutshell sailing pram dinghy, the latter being offered to a new home for free provided that she is used and not stored away and never sailed.

It is so comforting to see our common weakness given a scientific treatment and justice,I do, however, wonder how do calculate the severeness of my own case. The number of feet multiplied by number of hulls cause the most concern:One boat of 23 feet, a trimaranone boat of 35 feet, also a trimaranone of 17 feet, a catamaranone of 14 feet also a catamaranand finally a 23 foot monohull.I wonder how to do the math necessary to make sure the result is valid. Is the degree of decay to be taken into consideration, too?

I am afraid the truth must be faced – brutal though it maybe. Catamarans and tris require counting all hulls to add to the total. You know that your prediliction for boats extends to a desire for speed and wetness. Your affliction is worse than you are yet prepared to accept.

Altogether it comes out as a PNM score of roughly 259, and yes, they are visible on Google Earth too.As a first step in a remedy to this illness I’ll consider letting someone else sail the monohull, a Leisure 23.The good news is, I did avoid accepting another monohull in need of salvation.Will that do for a start?